A Rather Lovely Inheritance

This is your life Penny Nichols...Penny Nichols is a historical researcher working on a big-budget film in the south of France when she gets an urgent call. Her Aunt Penelope has just died, and Penny's presence is required in London for the reading of the will. With only a slim recollection of her eccentric aunt, Penny is astonished to learn that not only is she the bona fide heiress - but she's also been invited to put her research skills to work.

Return of the Rose

Morgan Hayes grows up in the 20th century with a mysterious attraction to a hollow suit of armor that stands in the window of her mother’s antique store. She is 24 years old when she becomes entangled within the armor’s metal plates and is whisked back in time where she is mistaken for a twin sister she knows nothing about. Morgan is forced to marry King Henry’s favored knight, Derek Vanguard, Lord of Braddock Hall. Abandoned by his mother, Derek’s heart is as cold as the stone walls of his castle....

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

Author Beth Fantaskey injects a little humor into the vampire romance genre with this critically acclaimed debut novel. High school senior Jessica Packwood is a down-to-earth mathlete who's not sure what her future holds. What she definitely doesn't see coming is foreign exchange student - and vampire - Lucius Vladescu showing up at her door. According to Lucius, Jessica is actually vampire royalty, and they've been betrothed to one another since infancy.

The American Heiress: A Novel

Traveling abroad with her mother at the turn of the 20th century to seek a titled husband, beautiful, vivacious Cora Cash, whose family mansion in Newport dwarfs the Vanderbilts', suddenly finds herself Duchess of Wareham, married to Ivo, the most eligible bachelor in England. Nothing is quite as it seems, however: Ivo is withdrawn and secretive, and the English social scene is full of traps and betrayals. Money, Cora soon learns, cannot buy everything, as she must decide what is truly worth the price in her life and her marriage.

The River Knows

The first kiss occurred in a dimly lit hallway on the upper floor of Elwin Hastings' grand house. Louisa never saw it coming....Of course, Anthony Stalbridge couldn't possibly have had romantic intentions. The kiss was an act of desperation, meant to distract the armed guard who was about to catch the pair in a place they most definitely did not belong.

The Knockoff: A Novel

When Imogen returns to work at Glossy after six months away, she can barely recognize her own magazine. Eve, fresh out of Harvard Business School, has fired "the gray hairs", put the managing editor in a supply closet, stopped using the landlines, and hired a bevy of manicured and questionably attired underlings who text and tweet their way through meetings.

How It All Began

When Charlotte Rainsford, a retired schoolteacher, is accosted by a petty thief on a London street, the consequences ripple across the lives of acquaintances and strangers alike. A marriage unravels after an illicit love affair is revealed through an errant cell phone message; a posh yet financially strapped interior designer meets a business partner who might prove too good to be true.

Evans Above

Evan Evans is a young police constable who has traded in the violence of city life for idyllic Llanfair, a Welsh village tucked far away from trouble. Nestled among the Snowdonia mountain range, Llanfair looks to Constable Evans like a town forgotten by time, but he quickly learns that even the bucolic countryside has its share of eccentric - and deadly - characters.

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

From the publisher of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies comes a new tale of romance, heartbreak, and tentacled mayhem. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters expands the original text of the beloved Jane Austen novel with all-new scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents, and other biological monstrosities.

Little Women

It is no secret that Alcott based Little Women on her own early life. While her father, the free-thinking reformer and abolitionist Bronson Alcott, hobnobbed with such eminent male authors as Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne, Louisa supported herself and her sisters with "woman’s work."

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem.

The best stories pull readers in and keep them turning the pages, eager to discover more—to find the answer to the question: "And then what happened?" The true hallmark of great literature is great imagination, and as Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio prove with this outstanding collection, when it comes to great fiction, all genres are equal.

A Rather Curious Engagement

Penny Nichols has the London apartment, the classic cat, the villa in France, the fabulous bank account, and the great guy to share them all with. So everything's perfect, right? Er, well...Pennies, nickels...Pursued by gigolos, gold diggers, an ex-wife, and highly aggressive salesmen, all chasing after their millions, frelancer-turned-heiress Penny Nichols and her boyfriend, Jeremy, decide to take a whole summer off and sock away most of their inheritance.

The Firebird

Nicola Marter was born with a gift. When she touches an object, she sometimes glimpses those who have owned it before. When a woman arrives with a small wooden carving at the gallery Nicola works at, she can see the object’s history and knows that it was named after the Firebird - the mythical creature from an old Russian fable. Compelled to know more, Nicola follows a young girl named Anna who leads her into the past on a quest through the glittering backdrops of the Jacobites and Russian courts, unearthing a tale of love, courage, and redemption.

Masked Ball at Broxley Manor: A Royal Spyness Novella

At the end of her first unsuccessful season out in society, Lady Georgiana has all but given up on attracting a suitable man - until she receives an invitation to a masked Halloween ball at Broxley Manor. Georgie is uncertain why she was invited, until she learns that the royal family intends to marry her off to a foreign prince, one reputed to be mad.

The Princess and the Peer: Princess Brides Series, Book 1

When a royal summons from her brother arrives, Emma knows it's time to embrace her duties as the princess of a small European kingdom and marry the man her brother has chosen for her, a stranger she has never met. Instead, she does what any self-respecting princess would do - she runs away. All she wants is one week in London. One week to experience everything life has to offer, before she is locked away in a loveless marriage forever. Former naval captain Nick Gregory has inherited a title he never wanted.

Attempting Elizabeth

Kelsey Edmundson is a geek and proud of it. She makes no secret of her love for TV, movies, and, most especially, books. After a bad breakup, she retreats into her favorite novel, Pride and Prejudice, wishing she had some of the wit and spirit of Elizabeth Bennett. She falls asleep reading Darcy’s letter to Lizzy and awakens to find herself in an unfamiliar place that looks and sounds suspiciously like her favorite book. Has she somehow been transported into Pride and Prejudice, or is it just a dream?

Someone to Love: A Westcott Novel, Book 1

Anna Snow grew up in an orphanage in Bath knowing nothing of the family she came from. Now she discovers that the late Earl of Riverdale was her father and that she has inherited his fortune. She is also overjoyed to learn she has siblings. However, they want nothing to do with her or her attempts to share her new wealth. But the new earl's guardian is interested in Anna.

Habits of the House

As the Season of 1899 comes to an end, the world is poised on the brink of profound, irrevocable change. The Earl of Dilberne is facing serious financial concerns. The ripple effects spread to everyone in the household: Lord Robert, who has gambled unwisely on the stock market and seeks a place in the Cabinet; his unmarried children, Arthur, who keeps a courtesan, and Rosina, who keeps a parrot in her bedroom; Lord Robert’s wife, Isobel, who orders the affairs of the household in Belgrave Square; and Grace, the lady’s maid who orders the life of her mistress.

Edenbrooke

Marianne Daventry will do anything to escape the boredom of Bath and the amorous attentions of an unwanted suitor. So when an invitation arrives from her twin sister, Cecily, to join her at a sprawling country estate, she jumps at the chance. From a terrifying run-in with a highwayman to a seemingly harmless flirtation, Marianne finds herself embroiled in an unexpected adventure filled with enough romance and intrigue to keep her mind racing.

Magic Marks the Spot: The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates, Book 1

To escape from a life of petticoats and politeness, Hilary answers a curious advertisement for a pirate crew and suddenly finds herself swept up in a seafaring adventure that may or may not involve a map without an X, a magical treasure that likely doesn't exist, a rogue governess who insists on propriety, a crew of misfit scallywags, and the most treacherous - and unexpected - villain on the High Seas. Will Hilary find the treasure in time? Will she become a true pirate after all? And what will become of the gargoyle?

A Rather Charming Invitation

Dateline: London, Paris, Antibes. It's time to get down to nuptial nuts and bolts. But while heiress Penny's distant relatives insist that the wedding be held in their native France, Jeremy's kin won't have it anywhere but England. And either choice might just re-ignite the Hundred Year's War.

The Actor and the Housewife

When Becky, a housewife with screenwriting dreams, attracts the interest of Felix, a Hollywood star, the two quickly become friends. Though the sexual tension is obvious, Becky has no intention of cheating on her husband - but would Felix cheat on his wife? As their friendship blossoms, rumors and suspicion threaten to derail their platonic love.

Crave: Billionaire Bachelors Club, Book 1

Billionaire Archer Bancroft always gets what he wants - and he’s wanted Ivy Emerson, his best friend’s sister, for far too long. Being forbidden and untouchable only makes her more tempting. When a million-dollar bet with his friends throws down a challenge - last bachelor standing takes it all - Archer knows he can win. That is, until one enchanted evening with Ivy takes his heart for a ride.

Publisher's Summary

Now a major motion picture.

Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, is ruining her love life: no real man can compare. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Jane's fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined.

Decked out in empire-waist gowns, Jane struggles to master Regency etiquette and flirts with gardeners and gentlemen: or maybe even, she suspects, with the actors who are playing them. It's all a game, Jane knows. And yet the longer she stays, the more her insecurities seem to fall away, and the more she wonders: Is she about to kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?

This book was funny, light hearted and lots of fun. I'm such a Pride & Prejudice fan that this would make a great adventure to take with my friends. I would recommend this to all sappy P&P fans. The narrator did a great job with this book.

Both my 17 year old daughter and I (a 46 year old mom) loved this book. We're both Jane Austen fans, and the idea of being able to escape to a Jane Austen-type of world is intriguing. I think all of Shannon Hale's books are great, and always look forward to her next one.

Katherine Kellgren does such a good job narrating that she almost rescues this book. This is an interesting take on the Austen universe but I have to confess that this book can be put down. I am not certain why my reaction is so lukewarm. I think it because the real parts of the story and play acting are difficult to distinguish. I also couldn't seem to sympathize with the heroine. I really didn't like her and I don't know why. It puzzles me for I tend to suspend my disbelief on command of the author. I am willing to be led where ever the author wants to go. In this case, I think the heroine led a boring life, is bored, wants to be rescued and does nothing for herself: in short, she is boring. What kind of man would want to be around her? To say this in a different way: Miss Elizabeth Bennet wasn't sitting on her hands dreaming of a Darcy coming to her rescue. She lived and took her pleasures and disappointments as she found them. She was never boring. She will never be boring. Dittos for Anne Elliot, Elinor Dashwood, Fanny Price, Catherine Morland and certainly Emma Woodhouse. If woman (or a man) is leading an empty life, it is not Mr. Darcy's fault. Look to the mirror.

I thought this was entertaining, although a bit slow and unbelievable at parts. We read it for our book club and most everyone got some fun out of reading it. It's in no way deep, but it is clean (no sex scenes) and still romantic.

I really enjoyed this book! It is not what I expected; a recreation of a classic. The characters are original. Shannon Hale did a great job showing what it would be like for a present day woman to enter a "Pride and Prejudice" world. I laughed out loud several times.

I love all things Pride and Prejudice, and this is no exception. I went in with low expectations, because of the numerous attempts to recreate the wheel, but was surprised to find that these were not just Darcy and Elizabeth revisited. The characters were fleshed out to be not just the same retread territory, but with a spin. Definitely worth the book credit.

Book is about a modern girl living in the past or more specificaly with Colin Firth in the A&E version of Pride. (who can blame her)
The first time I listened to this book, the first part was a bit to extreeme (I don't hide my version in a plant after all!) but as you go get to the arival at Austenland the book makes you laugh. I have listened to the book a few times now and I laugh even at the beginning. If you enjoy Jane Austen you will enjoy this book, especialy if you have ever dreamed of finding your own Mr. Darcy.

The performance was key to me, moreso than the story which I found very lightweight. If you mildly like Austen, or like modern people tackling Austen this is a nice book to listen to over an afternoon. It respects Jane Austen's work well enough and acknowledges the contemporary yearning for Austen's world with a only mildly annoying modern character going into that world, which is Austenland.As I wrote, it was narrator Katherine Kellgren's performance that made this book well worth it and very entertaining.